5.  The applicant was born in 1963 and lives in Bursa.
6.  On 7 March 1999 the applicant and four others were arrested at around 12.30 p.m. by police officers in Kadifekale, İzmir, and taken into police custody at the İzmir police headquarters. On the same day, at 4.p.m., the applicant was taken to İzmir Atatürk State Hospital where a doctor examined him and drew up a provisional report which is mostly illegible. The legible parts of the report indicate that the applicant is conscious, that there is no need for an urgent intervention and that his medical condition does not require him to take time off from work.
7.  On 8 March 1999, at 8.15 a.m., two police officers who were on duty where the applicant was in custody drew up and signed a report which indicated that the applicant hit his head against the door of his cell whilst refusing breakfast in an angry manner. The names of the police officers are not indicated on the report.
8.  On 8 March 1999, at 3.55 p.m., the applicant was seen by a doctor at the Konak Forensic Medicine Institute who noted an oedema and lesion on the right upper eyelid and a minor lesion on the lower lid of the same eye and a lesion on the upper lip. The report noted that these findings rendered the applicant unfit for work for two days. On the same day the applicant was brought before the investigating judge, who ordered his release.
9.  On 9 March 1999 the applicant lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor, who heard him in person the same day. The applicant alleged that he had been subjected to torture by the police officers whilst in custody and requested to be referred to a forensic doctor in order for the marks of ill‑treatment still visible on his face and body to be verified.
10.  On the same day the applicant went, of his own accord, to be examined by the doctors of the İzmir Chamber of Doctors, who drew up a report on 25 June 1999 noting pain in various parts of the head and neck and lesions around the right eye. The report also stated that the applicant was suffering from post-traumatic stress. The report concluded that the findings on the applicant’s body corroborated his allegations and that they had been caused by the use of force.
11.  The public prosecutor heard the accused police officers on 2 June 1999 and on that day issued a decision not to prosecute. The police officers stated that they had not been there when the applicant was arrested. They had questioned him afterwards. The public prosecutor found it established, on the basis of the police officers’ statements, that the marks on the applicant’s face had occurred when the applicant hit his head on the door of his detention room whilst refusing breakfast on 8 March 1999. The public prosecutor concluded that there was insufficient evidence against the police officers.
12.  On 12 July 1999 the applicant lodged an objection with the Karşıyaka Assize Court against the decision not to prosecute and submitted the report drawn up by the İzmir Chamber of Doctors in support of his allegations.
13.  On 30 July 1999 the applicant was seen by a forensic doctor, who referred to the findings of the medical report dated 8 March 1999, namely lesions around the right eye and on the upper lip, and noted that periorbital lesions would not occur as a result of hitting one’s head on a door and that it was possible that they had been caused by the use of force.
14.  On 2 August 1999 the Karşıyaka Assize Court upheld the applicant’s objection, finding that the medical reports submitted by the applicant constituted sufficient evidence to initiate criminal proceedings.
15.  On 26 August 1999 the İzmir public prosecutor filed a bill of indictment with the İzmir Criminal Court of First Instance in which he accused the police officers who had been on duty when the applicant was in custody, under Article 245 of the former Criminal Code, of ill-treating the applicant during the performance of their duties (görev sırasında efrada sui muamele). On 10 November 1999 the applicant joined the proceedings as a civil party.
16.  During the proceedings the İzmir Criminal Court of First Instance heard the applicant as well as the witnesses of both parties. The applicant reiterated his allegations and stated further that he had been blindfolded and could not therefore identify the perpetrators. He added that he had also been verbally insulted during questioning. The police officers who had participated in the applicant’s arrest stated that the applicant had been among his supporters at the time and had shown physical resistance during arrest. Other individuals who were detained at the same time as the applicant, and who testified on his behalf, stated that they had seen bruises on his face after questioning.
17.  On 9 October 2000 the İzmir Criminal Court of First Instance acquitted the police officers in the absence of any concrete evidence. The court found that the medical report of 25 June 1999 had been issued three months after the alleged incident and that the applicant could not identify the perpetrators.
18.  On 24 November 2000 the applicant appealed. On 8 April 2002 the Court of Cassation quashed the judgment on the ground that the accusations against the police officers fell under Article 243 of the former Criminal Code, which prohibited public officials from inflicting torture to extract confession or information, rather than Article 245 under which they had initially been charged. The Court of Cassation added that the case should therefore have been examined by the İzmir Assize Court and remitted the case to the İzmir Criminal Court of First Instance.
19.  On 9 April 2003 the İzmir Criminal Court of First Instance gave a decision of non-jurisdiction and referred the case to the İzmir Assize Court.
20.  On 6 October 2003 İzmir Assize Court acquitted the two police officers on the ground, inter alia, that the medical report of the İzmir Chamber of Doctors submitted by the applicant had been issued three months after the end of his custody period and that it reflected his description of the events alone without conducting or making any reference to the medical examinations. The İzmir Assize Court did not mention the first two medical reports drawn up on 7 and 8 March 1999 but simply quoted a paragraph of the findings of the report drawn up on 30 July 1999.
21.  The applicant appealed and maintained that there was sufficient evidence to prove his allegations. He added that he had been tortured by five or six police officers, whereas criminal proceedings had been initiated against only two officers.
22.  On 21 March 2005 the Court of Cassation quashed the judgment on the ground that the prosecution of the offences had become time-barred.